Abstract
Maastrichtian terrestrial deposits throughout Laramidia (western North America) have yielded a wealth of ancient dinosaur diversity. Yet, despite intense collecting in some areas, latitudinal sampling unevenness still limits biogeographic studies, making new records of dinosaur occurrences significant. Here, we describe the first non-dental pachycephalosaurid cranial material from the late Maastrichtian Scollard Formation of central Alberta, Canada, which allows more precise taxonomic identification of pachycephalosaurids from the northern part of the Western Interior Basin during this time interval. A domed parietal, although weathered, retains several features that allow it to be referred to the tribe Pachycephalosaurini within the subfamily Pachycephalosaurinae, and likely to the genus Pachycephalosaurus. This specimen provides further support for the suggestion that late Maastrichtian dinosaur communities were generally cosmopolitan with no discrete faunal provinces in Laramidia, and underscores the importance of collecting fragmentary, but identifiable remains that often go unreported.
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